Canoe



Feb. 8, 1966 B. e. BIEHL 3,233,257

CANOE Filed March 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- INVE NTOR BRENT e. BlEHL q zmi (Lav BY ATTORNEYS Feb. 8, 1966 G. BIEHL 3,233,257

CANOE Filed March 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,233,257 CANOE Brent G. Biehl, 19796 Damman St, Harper Woods,Mich. Filed Mar. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 437,450 1 Claim. (Cl. 9-6) Thisinvention relates to a canoe, and more particularly, a canoe which is,for all practical purposes, non-tippable.

Conventional canoes, whether made of sheet metal, wood and fabric, orplastic, are all of essentially the same basic design and are allcharacterized by being highly unstable and easily tipped by either theoccupants thereof, or by rough water. Thus, the conventional canoerequires some considerable skill in handling in order to prevent thecanoe from tipping during ordinary usage.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a canoe having a hulldesign which resists tipping and which causes the canoe to float rightside up even when filled with water, and, which, for all practicalpurposes will not tip despite unskilled or improper handling or theaction of rough water.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following description, of which, the attacheddrawings form a part.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the canoe hereof.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view.

FIG. 3 is a front end view.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, crosssectional view taken in the direction ofarrows 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an elevational, cross-sectional view of a portion of the frontend of the canoe.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of a portion of the side of thecanoe.

FIG. 7 is a perspective, fragmentary view, to an enlarged scale, of thefront end.

FIGU8 is a schematic view of the hull in cross-section.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the canoe it) is formed of a generallyU-shaped in cross-section hull having a bow section 11 and a sternsection 12, separated by a midship section 13. The hull may be made of asuitable fibrous glass reinforced plastic, or of any of the othermaterials conventionally used in canoe construction, such as sheetaluminum, etc.

The hull bottom portion 14 is flattened and the sides 15 are outwardlybowed so that their lower edges are curved inwardly at 16 to integrallyjoin the flat bottom and so that their upper edges 17 are arrangedcloser together in cross-sectional distance or beam than the distancemeasured between the midpoints of the sides. Thus, the opening at thetop of the canoe is considerably narrower in beam than is the beammeasured between the sides, below the opening.

The bow and stern sections are each provided with a water-tight deck orcap 20, extending between the upper edges of the side walls of thecanoe, with the caps having depending edge flanges 21 overlapping theupper edges of the side walls and secured thereto by means of a suitableadhesive. At the transverse free edges of the decks, water-tightbulkheads 22 are provided, to extend the full height and width of thehull at such locations, so that, together with the decks, they formclosed bow and stern flotation chambers 23 which, preferably, are filledwith a light-weight, buoyant material 24, such as foamed polystyrene andthe like.

The bow and stern ends each curve upwardly and ex tend upwardly roughlytwice the height of the upper edges of the side walls relative to thefiat bottom of the hull. Thus, the bow and stern are higher than thoseof a conventional canoe.

The free upper edges of each side wall 17 are covered with an extrudedaluminum, or the like, gunwale strip 25 having an upper, hollowed,flattened portion 26 and a pair of parallel legs 27 between which theupper edges 17 of the side walls 15 are snugly fitted and preferably areadhesively secured by means of a suitable adhesive. if desired, foradditional strength, rivets (not shown) may also be used through thelegs 27 and the side walls.

Each of the decks 20 is provided with side extentions 28 which overlapand cover the end portions of the gunwale strip, as shown, for example,in FIG. 7.

In order to stiffen and rigidity the hull, a keel strip 30 is providedon the inside of the hull and runs the length of the hull. In addition,a suitable number of bottom cross ribs 31, extend transversely on andare secured to the bottom of the hull.

The canoe is provided with conventioanl thwarts 32 and with seats 33mounted upon cleats 34 secured in turn, by screws, rivets or adhesives,to the side walls 15. Thus, in general, the canoe appears to besubstantially the same as a conventional canoe, with the most apparentdifferences being the high bow and stern ends and the bowed side Wallsresulting in a narrower open top relative to the beam of the canoe.

In operation, the canoe is handled in the same way as are conventionalcanoes, with the occupants using paddles and paddling in theconventional manner.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates the canoe in water 35, when a force 36(arrow) is applied off center of the canoe. Such a force may consist ofa person standing near one side of the canoe or even sitting on thegunwale, which in an ordinary canoe would result in the canoeimmediately turning over.

However, as shown in dotted lines, the canoe herein will tip to thepoint where the bow and stern sections and the curved side walls willstabilize in the water relative to the tipping force, and this will takeplace before the canoe tips. Thus, the canoe is almost impossible to tipwhen carrying normal loads such as two or three occupants plus theirnormal baggage, even when sudden movement of these off-balances thecanoe. Nor, will the canoe tip in rough water or heavy waves and, evenif filled with water, will remain upright.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of thefollowing attached claims. Accordingly, it is desired the foregoingdescription be read as being merely illustrative of an operativeembodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limited sense.

I now claim:

A canoe comprising:

an elongated, upwardly opening hull having curved side-walls and asubstantially flat bottom portion, said hull tapering toward pointed bowand stem ends;

said hull side-walls bulging outwardly to a considerable extent adjacentsaid fiat bottom portion and curving inwardly towards each other to aconsiderable extent at the upper edges thereof, whereby the maximumwidth of the canoe at any point along its length between said endportions lies just below the waterline of the loaded canoe, and wherebythe width of the canoe at any point between said end portions decreasescontinuously and rapidly as the height above the water line increases;

said bow and stern ends curving upwardly above said bottom portion ofsaid hull to a height approximately twice the height of the upper edgesof said hull side-walls between said bow and stern ends;

the open upper portion of said bow and stern ends being covered with awater-tight deck extending between said side-walls to form short coveredend sections;

each end section being sealed oil by a water-tight bulkhead to form aflotation chamber extending upwardly into said end portions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS MILTON BUCHLER,Primary Exal'nz'ner.

